SymPOEsium Event Application

The Poe Society is hosting it’s first event this coming October. SymPOEsium is a week long conference in Baltimore culminating on Saturday, the anniversary of the writer’s death. The app allows you to reserve tickets, sign up for events and build a personal itinerary while still having the entire event schedule, just in case you change your mind. You can also read bios of attending presenters as well as sponsors.

One of the unique features of this event, is that it doesn't take place in a single building like a conference center, but is instead spread over the city of Baltimore. It was clear that we needed a map feature and research told us that since attendees don't have to register for specific events before, many choose the ones they want to go to by what is nearby when they finish with another event, so we darkened the map pins to indicate that an event might be a good choice because it's possible to get there by walking or using transit before the start time.

Another thing that conference organizers told us, is that the bane of their existence is people losing their name tags or entrance tickets and then having to replace them, so we integrated their ticket into the app by way of the Wallet feature.

Because this is a literary event, profiles of the speakers warranted more space and prominence than they might have in another event app. When I was researching the speakers from the previous year, I found that many of them did not have their own website, so it was important to have plenty of space in the app.

This app was designed with Apple's human interface and usability standards in mind, and one thing I was paying particular attention to at the time, was readability and click-ability. Having been to conferences with accompanying apps myself, I know first hand the importance of such things when you're rushing to find your next session.

If you would like to see more of the thinking behind this app, you can take a look at my Processon this blog, or click through the prototype I coded here.